A Single Call
by A Reviewing Reader
Summary: Two different people talk about a serious topic that concerns many teenagers today. One smile, one word, one CALL can change a person's life forever - even save it from a terrible fate. Based on a conversation between me and one of my closest friends.


Okay, this was written on a total whim, it barely makes sense, but it was something I had to get out of my system, I suppose. My friend has been going through some issues, and when she told me about what was happening, I just had to write about it.

I'm not joking or being sarcastic about this subject, I'm completely serious. Please - just talk to your friends, family, anyone who will listen about your issues. Remember that just striking up a conversation with someone can save a person's life, because they know someone cares, and that life _is_ worth something.

This one-shot is dedicated to everyone who is going through hard times, where the only solution seems to be self-harm, or worse, suicide.

* * *

Amber locked the door of her bedroom before going over to her bed and falling smack into her pillows. She gripped a pillow, pushing it to her face, and screamed at the top of her lungs into the soft fabric. After letting out a few breaths and calming down, she picked up her pink-rhinestoned phone.

She called her best friend Nina, but only got: "Hey! Nina, here. Sorry I couldn't get to the phone, but I'll call you back as soon as I can! Leave me a message at the beep, bye!"

Amber did not bother leaving a message, only hanging up and calling one of her other friends, Mara. The only reply was: "Hi there, I'm not here at the moment, but please leave me a message so I can get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks!"

The blonde rolled her eyes at the answering machine, ending the call before the beep could sound. Sometimes it was creepy how similar Nina and Mara were: for example, their answering machine messages sounded extremely similar.

_It's so weird_, Amber thought to herself as she dialed the next number. _Okay. Next up is Joy._

But Joy was not really helpful to her, her voice mail was a mixture of her and Mick's laughing voices:

Joy: "Hey, we're a little busy right now!

Mick: "Can't talk, right now, sorry-"

Joy: "Leave a message-"

Mick: "And we'll _try_ to get back to you!"

Then the rest of the message was a fit of giggles and laughter, but Amber did not want to hear them having so much fun. Right now, she was going through a crisis and did not need to hear people being happy during her depressing time.

Well, it was not just that. Mick sounded so much happier with Joy than he ever did with Amber. It kind of hurt, but she could not dwell on it. She can't worry about it. Worrying causes wrinkles.

_Stop thinking about it, Amber!_ she chastised herself. Shaking her head, she dialed the last number, one she never really called anymore, since the two of them did not really get along very well.

Four long rings went by, and Amber sighed to herself, doubting that she, the Goth Pixie, of all people would reply to her, the eccentric blonde fashionista. But, suddenly, the redhead's voice responded with a groggy-sounding "hello?"

"You actually answered me?"

Amber could just _imagine_ Patricia's deadpan expression as she replied, "_Really_, Amber?"

"What?" Then she realized that she actually said her first thought out loud. "Oh, sorry. Um, anyway. Can I vent to you?"

"Vent to me?" Patricia repeated the question, like it did not make sense to her. Amber did not blame her, if the roles were reversed, Amber would also be very confused about the question.

The redhead gave in. "Uh, sure. I suppose I'm a good person to vent to. But don't expect me to comfort you or someth-"

"Okay, thanks!" Amber interrupted her. "So basically, my parents have been fighting for so long because Mum feels like Daddy is working too much and not spending enough time with me and Mum, and my dad thinks that they are drifting apart and just aren't that in love anymore. I mean, have you ever heard of anything so crazy?"

Amber pauses to take a breath, allowing Patricia to speak. "Yeah, that happened to my parents, too. I think that's why Piper and I are in boarding school. The custody thing would be too much to worry about for my parents or something. But Amber, that doesn't mean your parents are going to get a divorce-"

"I know that! But what if it _does_ happen? I mean, my parents are too perfect together to break up! Then who would I live with? What will happen to Daddy's money once they're divorced? What if I end up on the streets? I _need_ designer clothes, I can't afford to wear . . ." Amber's voice dropped to a low whisper. ". . . second-hand clothes!"

She heard Patricia's exasperated groan. "What?" Amber asked.

"Nothing."

"No! I want to know!"

"Amber, just drop it, okay?"

"No! I. Want. To. Know. Tell me, Patricia. You know I always get what I want! And I _want_ to _know_!"

"Amber, you're not helping the situation by saying that you get everything you want. Some people aren't that lucky, y'know!"

The two were in a screaming contest by then, both arguing, and Amber wondered why she went to Patricia for family advice. To Patricia, of all people! Maybe she should have just waited until Nina called back or something? At least Nina understood her woes.

"Oh yeah? Well, what family problems could be so bad that you need to tell me?" Patricia demanded. "We don't even talk that much unless Nina or Mara or Joy is in the room! We barely get along; we barely survived Sibuna!"

There was silence on the phone for the longest time, and Amber actually contemplated hanging up on her fellow housemate. But then, Patricia seems to take a deep breath, and was it Amber's imagination or was that a _shaky_ breath? There was a huge difference between deep breath and _shaky_ deep breath. There was something bothering Patricia, and it was really bugging her.

Amber's voice softened. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Patricia retorted.

"Come on, Patricia. You can tell me anything."

"No - actually, I don't think I can."

"Well, if you didn't think you could, why haven't you hung up already?"

Silence was heard from the other end as Patricia seemed to contemplate the question. Amber smirked triumphantly into the phone, glad that she finally outwitted Patricia, even if it was for a minor thing.

"I-I dunno," Patricia finally said, confusion lacing her tone. "I mean, I wanted to talk to someone about . . . things."

Amber narrowed her eyes, suspicion forming in her mind. "What _kind_ of things?" she asked, a few thoughts already formulating.

"Well . . ." she trailed off, but before she could continue, Amber exclaimed.

"Are you pregnant!"

Patricia shushed her, only confirming Amber's worst suspicions. "Oh. My. God, Patricia." Amber could only express horror and a bit of disappointment. "Were you not safe? Are you not on birth control? Who did you sleep with? When did this happen-"

It was Patricia's turn to cut off her erratically-speaking blonde housemate, saying, "Shut up, Amber! I am on birth control, even though I don't need to be since I haven't been sleeping with anybody. I'm. Not. Pregnant!"

Amber let out a breath that she did not realize she was holding. "Oh," was all she could say after her long string of questions.

"Amber, it's not that. I just . . . I . . ." Amber could visualize Patricia throwing her hands up in the air in annoyance. "Ugh, why can't I talk to Nina about this? She'd be a better listener than you," Patricia seemed to mutter the last part to herself, but Amber caught it. Her face reddened with anger.

"Well excuse me. Nina is on a date with Fabian, while Mara, Jerome, and Alfie are hanging out at the pool. I'm not at the pool because I ran out of sunscreen and I don't want my gorgeous skin to get burned! So you're stuck with me, unless you want to butt into Mick and Joy's lovey-dovey date to talk to _her_!"

Amber inhaled a mouthful of air, trying to regain her breath back after yelling at Patricia once more. She exhaled, trying to dissipate the anger in her voice. "Okay, I'm sorry for yelling at you. Now, would you please tell me what's going on?"

Patricia took another shaky breath - Amber was sure that it was shaky this time. She was still wondering what was up with her friend.

"It's just that . . . I, have, um . . ."

"You have a crush on me, and you're secretly lesbian lovers with Joy?" Amber supplied.

"_What?_ Who told you that? I swear to God I am going to kick their arse!" Patricia threatened.

"Oh, no one told me. It's just that a lot of people were speculating about that in the first season when you were going insane as you tried to find Joy. Some people thought you two were _more_ than friends," Amber whispered in hush-hush tones. It felt nice to gossip again, it's been two days since the last time she talked about someone! Two days is almost too long in Amber's mind.

"Wait, season of what? Who was speculating?" Patricia asked, sounding extremely confused.

"Oh, you don't know? Okay, never mind. Go on, I'll shut up now." Amber mimed zipping her lips shut and throwing away the key.

Patricia paused for a moment before starting her story. "I-I've been harming myself lately . . . like cutting myself, and . . ." Her voice was quavering so badly, Amber could barely understand the redhead. ". . . and I've actually b-been th-thinking about s-s-suic-"

She could not continue, actually breaking down in tears on the phone, in front of Amber Millington. Amber's emotions were a mix of shock, pity, sadness, and disbelief. She knew that Patricia was depressing, but the blonde had always thought that it was something minor like listening to depressing music and wearing black clothing. She never knew that Patricia would be doing those . . . things. Amber did not dare say the words; they were to awful to say.

"You . . . have?" was all she could think to say.

"I-I think it's j-just some-something I have to g-get through w-with by m-myself. B-But I've heard that t-talking h-helps. So h-here I am."

"But why would you take to me, of all people?" Amber's lip was wobbling, she could feel her eyes brimming with tears. Sure, she and Patricia weren't BFFs like Amber and Nina or Patricia and Joy, but Amber still cared about the Goth Pixie. If she died, Amber would not just be sad, she may not buy anything for an entire month. And that was a sign that Amber was _really_ depressed.

"What have you done to try and, do that, um, thing?" Amber still could not say the word, it was just to terrible to say.

"I've tried to overdose on some pills, and even tried to hang myself once."

Amber swallowed back the gasps that were immediately coming to her with every attempt. She closed her eyes, shaking her head. She so badly wanted to hang up, to leave Patricia to deal with this herself, or with someone else who could deal with this better than Amber. Because right now, she was having a panic attack, worrying about Patricia trying a stunt like that again and succeeding. If she succeeded, then . . . then . . .

"Amber?" Patricia's voice snapped Amber out of her reverie. She opened her eyes, a small groan escaping her lips. She could already feel her skin wrinkle from all of this worrying.

"I'm still here." Amber took a breath to calm herself down. "Patricia, please don't every try this again. Please."

"I'll - try."

"Don't just _try_!" Her voice was shrill as she yelled into the phone. "I need you to promise. You _can't_ do it again. Too many people would miss you, and you would be gone, and . . ." Amber sniffled, a tear falling down her cheek.

"Amber, there's no possible way I can 'promise' not to do it again. I don't exactly control these bouts of depression, you know!"

_Bouts of depression? Oh God, Patricia's gone off the deep end,_ Amber told herself. "Well, could you just _try_? Is that so hard? Please?"

She sighs. "I'll - try," she repeats.

"You do know that, even though we don't talk much, you are one of my closest friends."

"Really?"

"Yep. Right above my dog, Truffles," Amber announced proudly. That was a pretty high honor, in her opinion.

"Oh. Uh, thanks, Amber."

"No problem."

Patricia laughed, suddenly. Even though it was a short, light laugh, it was nice to hear after such a depressing conversation. Amber can hear the smile in her friend's voice as she said, "Thanks for being there for me, Amber."

"Don't worry. I'll always be here to cheer you up." Amber grinned. "Now let's discuss possible couple names for Mick and Joy, shall we?"

She could tell that Patricia was shaking her head, but the smile was still there. "I'm not surprised we're going to that. Okay, well, why not?"

* * *

Me: Nice going, Amber! You almost blew the secret!

Amber: Well, sorry. I thought everyone knew already...

(Yes, Amber knows that House of Anubis is a TV show. She's always up-to-date with the biggest gossip and news.)

Okay... This one-shot was crappy. But I hope I got the message across... Anyway, I know Amber and Patricia talking about these things seems really unlikely, but I wanted the scenario of Patricia needing just _anyone_ to talk to would push her to even talking to Amber about it.

Please review!

~Ary


End file.
